


Shadowbun: A Knight's Hard Work

by JackFields



Series: T3 Shadowbun stories [8]
Category: Shadowrun, Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-21 16:58:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9558515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackFields/pseuds/JackFields
Summary: There's a new kind of Better-than-Life chips on the streets of Happytown, ones that'll give you a whole new outlook on your life.  Can Judy Nails find the hidden purpose behind them, or will she end up losing herself in the new persona?





	

"Beetles, got them beetles." the young capybara chanted as he leaned on the corner of his building, next to the grimy alleyway that ran between his building and the next. "Whizzies, dreamies, Golden Knights, got them beetles." he added, scanning the passing crowds of workers coming home. Some glared at him, while others just turned their muzzles away and kept walking. A few approached him to buy, furtively handing over a credchip or a few bills of corporate scrip, then hurrying away with purchase clutched tightly in their paws.

It hadn't been a great day for Taylor Warren. He had been awakened a few hours early when the bears in the next tenement apartment had started to fight. When the angry roaring and wall-shaking thumps didn't quiet down he had decided to head out to his spot on the corner. The building's elevator was broken, so he had to climb down five flights of trash strewn stairs to get outside. When he finally reached the ground level and ducked out through the fire exit, a speeding city bus had come by in time to splash him with a wave of disgusting gutter runoff. Taylor was still broke after buying the packet from Lemmy, and his reputation around the block had slipped so low that he couldn't even cadge a soya dog from the Stuffer Shack. If he could make some more sales today, maybe he could afford to buy some food for once, rather than dining at the soup kitchen.

He sighed, reached into his pocket and fished one of his last smokes out of the crumpled pack. If he ran out of these, Taylor reflected, he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to keep it together long enough to sell his wares. He took a quick drag, and blew it out slowly, watching as the clouds of smoke drifted off into the evening sky. Just as he finished the smoke, a strong hand gripped him by the throat, tugged him off his feet and dragged him into the shadows of the alley. Taylor struggled, clawing at the fingers wrapped around his windpipe, but a grunt from behind him and a quick punch in the kidney was his only reward. Another pair of hands grabbed his shoulders, and he ceased to give more than a token resistance as he was pulled behind a dumpster, then flung against the wall.

Taylor's head rebounded off the dusty bricks, and it was a few moments before his vision cleared enough for him to make out the figures standing in front of him. Three Orkified mammals stood before him, two rabbits and a ewe, and with a sinking heart he recognized the one in front. Baleful violet eyes stared down at him, one heavy booted foot tapped as she scowled down and asked "Didn't think I was ever gonna catch up with you, did ya? And what do I find you doing down here in the slums but selling Better-Than-Life chips? You want to make your stupid excuses now, or after I beat your ass?"

"Come on Judy," he wheezed, "you know how it is out here in the streets! I gotta hustle if I wanna survive, knowhatImean?" He slowly stood up, one hand patting unconsciously at the pocket of his coat where the rest of the BTL chips were hidden. Judy tracked the motion of his hand with her eyes, and shook her head in disgust. "Taylor, just stop. You came from a nice house on Holly Avenue, you are SO not gangster." She took a step closer, and jabbed him in the chest with a beefy finger. "Your mother was the one who paid us to come down here and drag you back, you know? What's she going to say when you tell her that I caught you selling these fucking things?"

"Do I really have to tell her?" Taylor reflexively shuddered, imagining that scene. His mother in her pearls and DNKY couture, Cousin Judy in her black camo pants and armor jacket, and him in his dirty clothes and smudged face, trying to explain what he had done. BTL chips were just a bit of fun, it was like smoking a joint or having a drink!

He looked down, scuffed his feet, then looked back up and said "I took Lemmy's packet. You know that, right? If I don't sell them, he's gonna be super pissed." 

Judy shook her head, thinking of the headache that untangling this was going to be. "Lemmy" was Leonard Kilmisdeer, mid-level enforcer and drug pusher for the Bloody Screamers, Zootopia's biggest Trogg gang. "How many do you have left?" she asked him, then stepped closer and reached into his pocket after them. He tried to stop her, but she grabbed his paw with her other hand and twisted it into a Judoe lock. She held up the baggie with her free hand, examining it in the dim alleyway light while he squirmed and tried not to squeal in pain. "Looks like, mmm, thirty eight in here. How many did you start with?" He blushed, then muttered "Fifty..."

Judy shook her head, and slipped the baggie into her own coat pocket. "They would have eaten you, literally no-shit EATEN you. You're damn lucky that your Mom's got a generous bankroll for this little operation." She relaxed her grip on his paw without releasing it, and turned to the ewe. "Doris, you're still going with Carlito, right? Can you take a credchip to him; make sure it gets to Lemmy?" The sheep grinned, nodded and said "I think I can do that tonight. You want me to tell him that you still scream his name when you're banging that fox?"

Judy shrugged and said "Only if you want him to go mental when he realizes that an Elf fucks better than he did. So, sure!" With a practiced motion she whipped a pair of light-duty handcuffs from her belt, snapping one side onto Taylor's wrist and the other onto her own left wrist, shackling them together. "Stacy," she asked her other assistant, "you want to help me get this little rascal home before curfew?" The other rabbit shrugged, replying "You're the boss, Judy." before pulling out her commlink and tapping in a message. A quick update to Taylor's mother, letting her know that the 'package' was on its way. Judy gave a quick tug to the handcuff chain, and started marching out of the alleyway. Taylor bobbed along a half step behind her, Doris and Stacy followed along a few paces behind him.

Back out in the street, Judy's keen hearing alerted her to a commotion a block away. A bear was brawling with several ZPD officers in the middle of the street. And worse luck, they were only a dozen meters from where she had stashed the borrowed sedan! She lead the posse down the sidewalk, slowly getting closer to the disturbance, her shadowrunner's instincts telling her that the cops would be more interested in the rowdy bear than in two smaller prey mammals handcuffed together. She gripped Taylor's paw with hers, coiling the light steel chain and concealing it between their paws. She leaned close and whispered "Don't try to be clever and shout something to them, I'll Taser your ass in a heartbeat. Comprende?"

Taylor nodded, and as they drew closer he whispered "I think I know that guy." The unfortunate subject of his gaze was buried under a pile of angry police officers; he was still roaring and struggling despite the heavy beating they were inflicting. " _Wulfeshéafod!_ " he bellowed, reaching up behind his head and raking at a wolf officer with his claws. " _Isenordál mea æscplega!_ " Judy grunted and asked Taylor "Where exactly do you know this guy from?"

Taylor shook his head, and muttered "That's Grizzly Adams, he's one of my best customers." She flashed him an irritated glare, and he hastened to add "WAS one of my best customers. But he was born on Pack Street, started working down on the docks when he was thirteen." He glanced over to Judy and asked "Is that Bearruskan that he's speaking?"

Judy shook her head, she knew a little of that tongue but this wasn't it. Pulling out her commlink, she started to record the struggling bear, avoiding attention by pretending that she was just typing out a text message. Maybe Nikko would be able to help identify it; he had expert contacts in the most unlikely places. By the time that their little group reached the car, she had enough audio recorded to give a sense of the strange language. Doris unlocked the doors on their side, then went around to the driver's side and got in. As they drove away with Taylor, the fight was still going on in front of the newsstand.

\----

Judy started to sweat as soon as she stepped out of the Zuber hired car, the heat of Sahara Square immediately penetrating through the neat pantsuit that she wore. She swore under her breath, and pulled a pair of mirrored aviator's sunglasses down over her eyes. She turned to the driver, told him that she would be ready to leave again in an hour's time, and started walking up the pathway to Money Badger's house. At the front door, she checked to see that her 'borrowed' ZPD badge was displayed prominently over her left breast pocket. Grinning, she rang the doorbell, and leaned back on her heels to wait. A beady eye peered out from the old-fashioned peep-hole, and a worried voice called out "Can I help you, officer?"

"I'm here to see Mauricio, ma’am." Judy answered in her most professional voice, giving the badge a quick nudge with one finger. "Official business, is he at home?"

"Oh, well, is he in trouble again, officer--" "No ma’am." Judy cut in, "Just an unannounced parole inspection." She saw the eye flick back to the badge, then back to her face, then sagged and drew away from the peep-hole. Judy heard the click of a deadbolt being drawn, and the door opened to reveal a female warthog in a light cotton sundress. Judy thought that she was pretty, as far as her judgement counted, but she seemed like the weight of the world was on her shoulders right now.

"It's Jackie, right?" Judy asked, "I just need to talk to your son for a few minutes, get him to sign some paperwork. He really isn't in any trouble." she offered, hoping that it would soothe the worried mother. She stepped inside the door, and took a quick look around; she had never actually been in inside Money Badger's house before. It was an aging split-level home, built into the side of a desert bluff on the outskirts of the desert district. The interior was cozy, two recliner armchairs in front of a medium sized trideo display, coffee table with a few magazines arranged across it. On the wall immediately in front of her were the family pictures, Mike and Jackie and little Mauricio in various portraits and candid shots. No other mammals appeared there; maybe they didn't have much in the way of extended family?

Jackie coughed politely behind her, and Judy realized that she had been staring at the photos much more intently than she had meant to. With a muttered "Sorry, just woolgathering." she turned to face her host. "Mauricio still lives in the downstairs bedroom?" Jackie nodded, and headed down the steps, Judy following behind her. Going downwards, past more photos and small shelves of knickknacks, Judy could hear a low-pitched hum of electronic fans as she drew closer to the door.

Jackie knocked, and then opened the door with a "Mar-mar? Are you decent?" As the door opened, Judy saw that every surface in the room was covered with halfway disassembled and reassembled Matrix terminals and computer workstations. Money sprawled on his back across his bed, completely naked except for an expensive looking VR headset. Two thin cables ran from it to an LED-encrusted server, his fingers danced in intricate patterns as the haptic receptors on each claw translated his motions into electronic commands.

"Oh for the love of..." Jackie stooped, and picked up a discarded t-shirt from the floor, whipping it across his lap with what appeared to be a practiced maneuver. As the cloth flopped into his groin, Money jerked in surprise, then started to scrabble in the air more frantically. "Shit, oh shit, oh SHIT!" he muttered as he worked, then after a moment he appeared to relax. He pulled the headset free with one paw, starting to whine "Maaaaaa--", but was only able to croak when he noticed his other visitor.

Judy stepped forward, ready to play the part of the snooping cop. "What's all this equipment for, Mister Taejon? I trust that this cyberdeck is appropriately registered with the Zootopian civic authorities?" She rapped on the glowing computer with one knuckle, then continued. "Standard unannounced inspection, you know the drill. I'm gonna have to see your access logs and system profile, then we'll go over your house arrest records." Money gawked at her for a moment, but picked up his part rapidly.

"Yes ma’am, whatever you'd like to examine. Ummm, could you please give me a second?" he asked as he doggedly covered himself with the thrown bit of cloth. Judy grinned down at him and asked "Trying to hide something from me, Mauricio? I think I'll stay right here, it's nothing that I haven't seen before."

With a scowl, Money sat up in his bed, hung up the VR headset back in its storage cradle, and pulled the sensors free from each claw tip. Doing all of this while trying to keep his crotch covered with the shirt was no small challenge, but Judy gave him points for dexterity. Jackie took the opportunity to make a quick pass through the room, gathering up what dirty laundry she could find, while commenting about how SOME people had the decency to wear pants after nine in the morning. She flung a clean-looking shirt and a pair of basketball shorts at him as she ducked out again.

Alone with Money at last, Judy flashed a wicked grin and said "Surprise! Maybe next time I need to get in touch with you, you won't have set your commlink on Do Not Disturb?"

"Do I come down to the Slaughterhouse and tell you how you should be spending your free time?" he whined, as he pulled up the shorts and tied them around his skinny waist. "Now that you're here, what is it that you really want? I'm sure that it's not just to see me naked."

Judy pulled out the bag of BTL chips that she had taken from Trevor the day before, and held it out in front of Money's muzzle. "Yesterday I saw a chiphead hold his own against a half-brick of ZPD patrolmammals. Tasers, fox repellent, even tranquilizer darts didn't slow him down." She pointed to one of the chips, a golden yellow one with an injection-molded plastic shell, depicting a knight's helmet and crossed swords. "He uploaded one of these guys about a half an hour before the incident. I need you to help me figure out what it did to him."

Money took the bag from her fingers, fished out the BTL and examined it more closely. "It's not your typical brain-burner. Let me see what I can determine from the ASSIST profile." He knelt down next to the bed and pulled out a plastic storage bin, then rummaged through it until he found a customized-looking datachip scanner. Plugging it into one of his many running computers, he socketed the yellow chip, watching as windows started to pop up on the display screen. He whistled software, and pointed to something on the screen that she didn't recognize. "This thing's wired up for a real killer trip. It's a Personafix package, I think, the memetic data's too complex for a simple dreamchip. Can't really tell what it's supposed to turn you into, not without slotting it." He looked up at Judy, asking "Where did you get these from, anyways?"

Judy shook her head; this was getting more and more unpleasant. "Long story, but short answer is I took them off a dealer in Happytown. He got them from the Bloody Screamers. And I'm not really sure where THEY got them from, but I'll bet you anything that its corporate somehow." She put one hand to her chin, an idea coming to her suddenly. "You said these were Personafix chips, right? So it's able to load it's programming into your brain, make you run around thinking you're someone else?" He nodded, and then waited for her to continue.

"Could you insert some sort of berserker fury into the programming? Make you lose your inhibitions against going Savage, not feel pain or fear, just go wild and try to kill anything you came across?"

"Awww, geez, I don't know much about Simsense programming Judy, it's more of an art than a science. I suppose it's possible, but what would the point be? It's not like you can just pop something like that and chill for a few hours, you'd go out looking for a fight and be killed by the TUSK squad." Money scratched his head, where the VR headset had matted down his fur. "It doesn't make sense. That's not something that a BTL lab would make. That's more like a weapons research..." He trailed off, an entirely new thought coming to mind.

"Megacorp weapons division. They come up with some new super-soldier implant, but they can't test it in house. So they bundle it up in a BTL chip, maybe they arrange for the shipment to be hijacked, maybe they just sell them outright..." He snatched the VR headset and jammed it back onto his head, scrabbled for the haptic controls where they were resting on the desktop. Working feverishly, muttering to himself, he soon had what he wanted, and with a flick of his claws he pulled it up onto a nearby monitor for Judy's benefit. It was a news magazine article from a few weeks ago, a trideo image of a smoldering truck in Alpacatechnology corporate colors, its cargo bed ripped open and stripped of contents. Across the hood, the Bloody Screamers tag was daubed in dark green paint. "It all fits." he whispered. "This wasn't just an accident, this was planned."

Judy whistled, thinking hard. "You think that you could rig it up somehow that I could experience that chip?"

\----

Judy flinched as the razor's blade scraped across her scalp, the cold sensation immediately replaced by the gentle tingle of newly bared skin. "Hold still, will you?" Money grunted, as he wielded the tool. "You wanted these electrode patches to be small as possible; I can't do that if you keep moving around." He finished the spot he was clearing behind her left ear, wiped away the shaving foam with a damp cloth, and set the electrode into the still damp skin. The adhesive paste bonded almost instantly, and Judy heard a faint 'bleep' from the mini-cyberdeck clipped to her belt. Seven down, two more to go.

They were in the back room of an abandoned gas station in the Rainforest District. Judy had picked this spot because the heavy artificial rain would hopefully muffle the sounds from inside the small building, should things not go as planned. From the card table where he sat with Finn, Nikko frowned at her and said "I still think this is a really bad idea, Carrots. We really have no idea Money's hack will let you keep your personality intact." He looked across the table to the big Troll, angling his head in a silent appeal for support. Finn finished shuffling the deck of cards, then looked at Judy and said "Nikko's right. 'Dat chip is bad news, why you wanna go put it in your head?"

Judy nodded, drawing another complaint from Money as he worked. "You're right. But I think I gotta do this. Lotta Orks out there taking these things, if they're deliberately made to drive you Savage then it'll be another Nighthowlers incident. If it's been engineered as a weapons test, then the gangs will take them off the streets." She grimaced, "Only one way to find that out, and that's to take the trip."

Money fastened the penultimate electrode, set the razor down and picked up the reference manual for the transcranial electrode kit. He ran his fingers through Judy's hair, tracing the small ridges in the skull, comparing it to the diagram on the page. "This is the last one, I think. Right here, over the occipital lobe." He poked gently with one claw tip, for emphasis. "You sure that you want to do this? Still time to back out."

"Do it." she grunted, then winced as the razor buzzed against her scalp once again. With the last electrode in place, the cyberdeck beeped, and then started to run through its calibration cycles. Judy felt her body rise into the air and fall back again; she felt icy water and burning heat run up one leg and down the other arm, then repeat in waves down her torso. She smelled freshly mowed grass clippings, the tang of antiseptic, the fragrant aroma of freshly baked bread. Her vision rapidly cycled in and out of focus, a series of geometric patterns running across her field of vision, and then a final beep and a synthetic voice in her skull announced "System calibrated, ready for user command."

"Ummmm, I think it's ready. It says that it's ready, anyway. Money, what do I do next?" The badger handed her the yellow Simsense chip, saying "All you have to do it plug it in and press the green play button there." He watched as she fit the chip into the player, crossed his fingers as she reached down to the device and activated its program. 

Jutta Nageln opened her eyes for the first time, and beheld the three villains that sat gawking at her. Her hand flew to the sword that she wore at her hip, but was astounded to find that it was missing. Curses, had one of these rogues stolen it? She would have it back, and then satisfaction for the insult!

"Deliver up mine blade, varlets, or I shall rend thee!" She reached out, and seized the disreputable looking fox by his thin peasant's doublet, giving him a shake for emphasis.

"Fuck, Judy, this is silk, you're gonna rip it!" he squealed, as he batted ineffectually at her grip. His bigger companion, a horned demon wolf by the look of him, frowned down and rumbled "Judy? Why you hitting Nikko?" Behind him, the deformed badger wrung his hands together, he must be praying to his God for protection! With a shove and a cuff around his large ears, she released the peasant fox and faced the direwolf directly.

"Mine sword. I had it not a moment hence, now 'tis gone! You three curs are the only folk about, thee must have stolen it! Deliver it at once, or I shall thrash thee!" She moved a step closer, sizing the biggest one up first; he would be her first target. "Dat's it, 'dis got to stop, you out of control!" the big canid grunted at her, raising his hands in front of his chest in a supplicating gesture.

"Nikko!" Money whispered as Judy and Finn came ever closer to blows, "she thinks that she's a knight or something! Does Judy even own a sword?" Nikko searched the room frantically, his eyes coming to rest on the pile of Judy's discarded equipment by the milk crate. That collapsible baton was lying on top of the heap; he pointed at it and said "There! Right there, on that pile of your, err, armor? There's your sword!"

Jutta turned to where the peasant pointed, expecting to see him flee from the room once she turned away, planning what she would do to him when she caught up. But Zounds! There it was! She sprung over the pile, laid paws upon it and flicked it forth. She spun and faced the cowering trio, weapon at the ready. It's fine steel seemed to flicker with its own brilliant light in the darkness of this peasant's hut. "Now, curs, _en garde!_ " she shouted, with a triumphant grin across her muzzle.

Nikko saw Finn's paws curl into fists, heard his deep growl as he started to respond to Judy's threatening display. He nudged the big Troll with an elbow and whispered "Follow my lead--" before he swooned forward onto his knees, both paws outstretched in a beseeching gesture. "Oh, noble Judy, we are your humble servants! Do not thrash us severely with your terrible sword, we beg you!" He spun around, and waved Money and Finn to kneeling positions as well. Hesitantly, they followed his lead, arms outstretched towards her, muttering "Ummm, yeah, what he said." and "Careful with that thing, Judy, you could put someone's eye out!"

Jutta was perturbed, these three claimed that they were her servants, was such a thing possible? She reasoned that it was obvious that she would HAVE a few minions at her disposal, but these three grimy-looking louts? She hoped that at least they were daring rogues; she couldn't abide a coward in her ranks. "Methinks you have been thrashed before, _Schlaufuchs_. Did'st thou learn the lesson, or shall I repeat it anon?" She poked him lightly in the nose with the expanded baton, and then rammed it closed on the countertop before holstering it at her side. "Up and away, knaves, Jutta hath business in the city!" She strode out of the back room, leaving the three flabbergasted and still kneeling on the floor.

"Nikko, what do we do now?" Money stammered, a panicked flush creeping up over his muzzle. "She's gonna get arrested waving that baton around in public! We gotta stop her!"

"I know, I know, but this is what she wanted!" Nikko countered, as he hastily gathered up his things from the card table, then grabbed his overcoat from the coat hook by the door. "She doesn't seem to be violent, at least as long as people don't mess with her. If we follow her around and play bodyguards maybe we can keep her out of trouble." Turning to Money, he asked "Can you get a drone overhead? Try to keep an eye out for ZPD or any other trouble on foot?" To Finn, he said "I think it's best if you play the strong and silent type, just follow along and look menacing?" Finn grinned down at him, and raised a thumbs-up gesture. "You got it, chief knave."

From the front room of the old gas station they heard a shouted "Accursed thing!" and the crash of breaking glass. Nikko winced, and then hurried out after her, calling "Milady! Your coat!" Finn slouched after him; Money paused only long enough to scoop all his gadgetry into a shopping bag before following the others out into the rainy night.


End file.
